The Older Woman
by elenathehun
Summary: [JagLeia] Jag and Leia have a lot in common. That must be why they're dating...
1. Chapter 1

**The one and only Jag/Leia on the web. One of my favorite stories.**

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When he moved to Denon to carry out his affairs as the ambassador to the Galactic Alliance, he didn't see as much of Jaina as he thought he would. She was always gone on missions – military or otherwise – and when she _was_ onworld, she was forever ensconced in shady meetings with Jedi and generals.

He _did_ see Jaina's mom quite a lot, though. The Most Honourable Princess Leia Organa Solo of the the Alderaanian Remnant had a finger in every pie despite her retirement, to her husband resignation and chagrin. Jag learned early on that if he needed to know some informantion or get some strings pulled, a quiet conversation with the Princess would get things done – _if_ you gave her a favorable impression.

So he settled into a routine: Go to work, have occasional dates with Jaina, and have lunch every once in a while with her illustrious mother.

But then Han died, in a space accident, of all things, and everything changed. Leia went into deep mourning, and nothing her family did could shake her out of it. Her brother tried, and sometimes succeeded, but he failed more often then not. Jaina was so deep in her grieving that she spent most of her time off-world on what most people would qualify as suicide missions. Jaina classified it as stress relief. Jacen was estranged from the family. He tried, in his own clumsy way, but that wasn't enough.

Jag was a little more pragmatic, though. His mother and Leia were remarkably alike in some ways, and he decided to use the same strategy he employed on his mother after Davin's death with Leia. After all, she was the mother of the woman he loved, and a good mentor in her own right.

He walked into her house, bold as brass, and poured cold water on her.

She was, as you can imagine, not pleased. She slammed a lamp into his head. That didn't deter him, though, and in the ensuing mess, managed to get her cleaned, dressed, and eating out at a diner most of the political aides ate at.

Their friendship was solidified that day.

After he and Jaina broke up, he didn't visit Leia for a while, thinking that she would not want to see her daughter's ex-boyfriend. He was very surprised to see her a week later, with a charming smile and tickets to the theater. Nothing needed to be said between them after that.

The next few years went on in that way. He gradually became the head of a large diplomatic compound. It was akin to running a military base, except with less lethal weapons. He saw Leia almost every day for a lunch date at that same diner they had gone too so long ago, and they talked of pretty much everything – military tactics, history, society gossip, politics… the list went on.

But one day, it all came into focus for Jag. There was a ball, of all things, celebrating the Alderaanian Remnant finding a planet in Chiss Space, and he was escorting Leia to the ball. The ball went well, and Leia drank a bit more than usual – not enough to get drunk, but at the end of the evening, she was whispering pilot jokes to him in the car. And as he walked her to her house, up the long and winding pathway, he smiled at her, and she at him, and at her porch, he thought, of all things, _she looks quite good for a woman her age_. And then he leaned down and kissed her.

She kissed him back.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the gardening that did it for her. Leia had plenty of friends, but none that were truly dedicated gardeners. Her own _family_ couldn't share in her love of gardening. Jacen, for all his philosophical ramblings about the simple life, didn't know arake from a hoe, and Luke had never pretended to understand anything about soil pH. Han was the only one who could understand it, though the technical details eluded him somewhat. It was another thing they shared, although it took retirement to bring it out.

Then Han died, and she never wanted to get up again. She curled up in bed and didn't get out, lost in her memories. Luke and Jacen kept telling her that Han wouldn't have want her to do this, but she thought _Why? He did the same thing when Chewie died._ and wouldn't get up.

At least, she didn't get up until _someone_ splashed ice water on her head. She looked up, saw Jagged Fel staring down at her, and threw a lamp at his head.

It's very lucky that she has bad aim, or he'd be sporting another scar on his head.

But despite the lamp-throwing, he got her into the shower, dressed, and into a diner full of raucous diplomatic aides. On the other hand, she hadn't had decent Kserri-style nerf in _years_…

For some reason, she kept him around after that, even when he wasn't Jaina's boyfriend anymore. He was a pretty interesting man, even if his sense of humor was as dry as Mara's. But the thing that put the clincher on it was the gardening. In all the years she'd lived, she'd never met a fighter pilot who enjoyed gardening. It was like pilots had an anathema to the earth.

But he didn't. He _enjoyed_ gardening. Miniatures, of course, because of the space constraints of military quarters, but she was sure that he could pick up temperate gardening in a snap. And as their lunch sessions grew more and more numerous, the more she learned about him: his passion for anthropology and obscure languages, his predictable enthusiasm for the latest tactics book, the surprising viciousness he employed onto the reputations of his political enemies… He seemed so young to her, so passionate and alive.

So when he kissed her the night of the celebratory ball, she kissed him back.

He pulled away immediately, of course, blushing and stammering and apologizing, and after a few awkward moments nearly ran back to his speeder. She just smiled.

The next day, she went up to him, and furiously trying to remember how to do it, (for Force's sake, it'd been thirty years) she asked him out on a date.


	3. Chapter 3

**I note that I get a lot of hits for the first chapter, but maybe a fourth that for the second. I think people are a bit creeped out...**

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The rumors started first. Small whispers among the diplomatic aides, flittering here and there over the weeks and months. Then word of it began spreading through the Senate. It took the diplomatic compounds by storm, and with a week it was the central subject of the sludgenews, with such charming titles like **_Is Princess Leia Pregnant with Jag Fel's Child_**.

And that was how Jaina Solo learned her mother was dating her ex.

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It was openly known and whispered about on Denon. They had made no effort to hide _it_, after all. But it was not spoken of in front of Leia. No, at parties the hosts' eyes slid over the two and spoke of innocuous topics, like the rebels in Wild Space and the human ax murderers who worshiped the Yuuzhan Vong gods. But still, snickers were muffled and a whole _new_ generation of bad jokes circulated around the bars, and _nothing_ could keep the tabloids from ravaging the reputation of both Jag and Leia.

As far as Jaina was concerned, they deserved it.

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Luke was sympathetic. Mara was not.

"How could she do this to me? For Force's sake, he was my boyfriend!"

Mara raised her eyebrow, looking rather amused.

"Exactly – he _was_ your boyfriend. Of course, that was three years ago, so-"

"What Mara _means_ to say is-"

"You're being a spoiled brat."

Jaina clenches her fists, turning red.

"How dare you? Don't either of you think it's creepy? Dad's been dead not four years, and she's sleeping with my ex-boyfriend!"

Mara looks even more amused than before.

"Life doesn't end when someone dies, or when you pass the age of fifty. Leia is reasonably young – only 53. Han's been dead years, and I doubt he'd want her to waste the rest of her life away. Now, you can either get over it or get on with it."

"What the kriff is _wrong_ with you!"

Then Luke speaks up, obviously unhappy with Mara's words.

"She's right, Jaina. As much as I dislike the whole affair, it isn't going away. You can either ignore them or confront them."

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Jag isn't at her mother's house, thankfully. She might be tempted toward violence, otherwise. The door is unlocked, and she finds her mother in the back, pruning a bush of some sort, cutting the pink buds off of it.

"Mother."

And unbelievably, Leia just turns and says, "Hello, dear. How was your mission?"

Jaina's eyes narrow.

"My mission," she spits out, "was fine. The only dark spot was finding out through the sludgenews that _my mother is sleeping with my ex-boyfriend_."

Leia's mouth tightens. "Well, I wouldn't say we're sleeping together. Three months is a bit fast for me. But yes, Jag and I are seeing each other."

Jaina just stares slack-jawed, her face a picture of disbelief.

"How can you just, just say it like that? Doesn't it disturb you that you're dating a man who could be mistaken as your son, a man who used to date _me_?"

A brittle smile spread across Leia's face.

"I doubt Jag could be mistaken for Jacen, Jaina."

"That's not what I meant!"

Leia's voice grows sharp.

"No, it isn't. But I'm not going to sit around and talk about how twisted I am to be dating a man half my age. Jag's a good man, and we share many of the same interests, and after you nearly date your own brother, you realize _nothing_ is as bad as that. So I suggest you get off your pedestal and _get over it_."

"And Dad? How could you do this to Dad?"

"Don't you _dare_ bring your father into this. Your father is _dead_. This is all about you, and hiding behind your father can't conceal it!"

Jaina walks away from her mother.


	4. Chapter 4

"Doesn't it bother you at all?"

She lazily smiles at him, amused.

"Not particularly."

He sighs, frustrated, and looks at Leia and Jag, surrounded by a crowd of people.

"It's been six months already."

She chuckles lightly.

"Perhaps it's true love?"

He looks at her dirtily.

_"Yeah."_

She shakes her head at him.

"He's a good man, Luke. She's happy with him. Does there have to be anything more than that?"

He sighs.

"He's so _young_. And Han only died four years ago…"

She puts her glass down to hold his hand and looks him in the eye.

"All right, let's say we have a hypothetical situation between us. Say…I die and leave you all alone. But then-"

"-I meet this sweet young thing and decide that Ben needs a mother?"

She flushes, and grins.

"Well, I wouldn't have put it so simply, but yes."

"So, you'd be happy that I'm sleeping with another woman?"

"No, but the dead rarely care."

He turns to look at the crowd around his sister.

"I still don't like it. What about Jaina?"

Mara rolls her eyes.

"I think that after three years, she isn't going to come to her senses and propose."

Luke pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Still…"

Mara smacks him upside the head.

"You don't have to like it, you know. But he is your sister's choice, and being rude to him won't help matters."

His mouth turns downward sullenly.

"I still think it's creepy."

Her eyes half-lidded, she surveys the dance-floor, seeing two figures dancing closely.

"But playing nice will make your sister happy."

He leans against her.

"I know, I know… I just wish-"

"-It was Han. I know."


End file.
